16 December 2015
Mr Edwin Emery
Tribal Member: Ngati Kahu ki Whangaroa
Re: Imminent signing of the Deed of Settlement has had people being invited to ‘celebrate this historic occasion’
Among those celebrating will be three individuals who could be described as the ‘architects’ of this process:
Chris Finlayson, Politician – loyal to his party colleagues and their policies
As part of the current regime they are pushing through flawed ‘cookie-cutter’ treaty settlements, stamped ‘full & final’ so that White New Zealand can expunge it’s colonial past and ‘move on’.
Richard Hawk, Lawyer – a person who has been present from the start of the process
He has been the lawyer for the claim, for the iwi. Any legal document associated with this claim he would have had some input into or perhaps even authored.
One such document would be the Post Settlement Group Entity Trust Deed. Some 70 pages of ‘legal-speak’ designed with the express purpose of entrenching those who have control of assets ‘post-settlement’.
Hawk is a consultant with the legal firm ‘Jackson Russell’. Proudly displayed on the Jackson Russell website, as part of their history blurb is the following:
“1865 – 1890s: For the next 20 years or so the firm, like others in Auckland at the time, was much engaged in legal work connected with land speculation and gold mining.”
Land speculation in this context would have been the frenzied activity of white settlers acquiring land from Maori by whatever means. Parliament legalised it and the legal fraternity was the mechanism to affect it.
Peter Pangari, Real Estate Agent – this individual has all the traits necessary for his chosen occupation
I would suggest he views the land as a ‘commodity’ to be acquired as part of your ‘portfolio’.
He does have a propensity to enter properties without notification. On one occasion having to be evicted by my father.
Hawk and Pangari are mates, having met at night classes in Auckland in the 1980’s.
All three of these individuals have absolutely no bloodline connection to the lands in question, and yet they have had an impact on this iwi, way out of proportion to who they are as individuals. For the politician, the lawyer and the real estate agent – in the coming years that influence will diminish significantly.
Only 585 people of this tribe have voted to accept the ‘crumbs’ the Crown is ‘flicking to us’, a mere 15% of the iwi.
We will never know the true numbers of this tribe; however based on the Ngati Kahu ki Whangaroa Trust Board database there are 3,800 tribal members (refer NKKTB Treaty Information Booklet) – that would mean that 85% of the iwi do not wish this settlement to go ahead. Clearly those who are dissenting are a statistically significant majority.
Of the Trust Board tribal member database of 3,800, 1200 were deemed invalid (Election Services) – either under age or lying horizontal in our urupa. This suggests that the NKKWTB ‘stacked’ the database. If only 10 -20 names were deemed invalid that would be reasonable – not 1200.
To the ‘minority’ who accept this treaty settlement you will get the Treaty Settlement you deserve.
What say the Kaitiaki of this Whenua, be it the humble Kiore, the grandfather Kiwi or the ancient & revered Pohutukawa – nothing … but Absolute Silence !
